Tech to Prevent SIDS

Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a "Smart Shirt" for infants that has sensors to record a child's heartbeat. The shirt can be used to monitor infants for risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); data is recorded and played back by medical technicians, much in the way that a holter monitor operates. A next-generation shirt could send alerts directly to parents or clinicians.

Elsewhere, design student Gary Cho has developed a "Caring Cot," a rocking crib that automatically rocks an infant back to sleep if he awakens. Aside from giving baby (and parents) a good night's rest, the device responds to sound, movement and temperature -- giving it the potential to alert parents if the baby is in distress.

SIDS is defined as the sudden, unexplained death of a child under the age of one.